


Life Always Finds A Way

by Ashynarr



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, I didn't start out trying to write this, I wanted to give her a... kind sendoff, Oneshot, Originally written: Oct 19 2018, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Wordcount: Over 1.000, World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, Written during the early part of the expansion, before the... everything... happened, but I sure cried writing it anyways, since I have no idea what Blizzard is doing at this point so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24571603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashynarr/pseuds/Ashynarr
Summary: From a linear point of view, Alexstrasza is the last of the old guard, the last of those who remembered the charge the Titans had given to the Aspects and the Flights in exchange for their power. Now, she fulfills her final duty.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	Life Always Finds A Way

Azeroth was dying, and even the best efforts of mortal champions could only slow it. The world was too caught up in their war, too focused on finally determining if the Alliance or Horde would claim mastery of the seas to see how their efforts tore away more of the world spirit’s lifeblood from her, just as she needed it to recover from the horrendous wound left behind by Sargeras.

Through all this, Alexstrasza watched from the cold plains of Dragonblight, tears long expended after each lost sibling or loved one. She’d given up much, perhaps too much, just to protect the world from the corrupted remains of Neltharion. She’d calmly ordered for the death of Malygos while weeping internally, had held firm when she’d been told how the mortals had managed to retrieve the Dragon Soul from Murozond’s machinations, had kept back her feelings when she’d seen Elune take her sister’s soul to rest among the stars.

While others had risen to take the places of the Aspects, the queen of dragons stood alone, the last of a forgotten era, without even her beloved consort to draw her from her worn memories of better ages.

She had known for a long while that the spark of life that still rested in her chest where Eonar had placed it would one day have to be given back, for such a powerful gift implied an equally great cause to give it to. And as she’d watched Nozdormu and his children still look after the timeline, ensuring that things would go well, she’d realized that they’d been watching her too, waiting for something, perhaps.

Alexstrasza knew, one day, after waking from a dream of Azeroth’s withering soul, what that cause was. The fact that her brother did not appear to talk her out of it, even as she looked south and felt the stirrings of her old power under her heart, only affirmed in her mind what she was going to attempt.

“Caelestrasz,” she called for her son, who responded quickly despite his work in the Ruby Shrine. “I have business in the south; I am entrusting you with charge over the temple until I return.”

“Of course, mother,” he replied, bowing respectfully before shooting her an inquiring look. “What business do you have, if I might ask?”

Alexstrasza smiled with humor she didn’t truly feel. “Oh, merely some overdue conversations. I’m certain I can bore you with them once I return.”

“I look forward to it,” he replied, and the small part of her heart that was left for him regretted how her last son would weep when he heard of her ultimate fate.

Still, she unfurled her body and wings, catching the air under herself as she dropped from the top of Wyrmrest for the last time. She slowly flew over the Ruby Shrine and smiled at how the last taint of the undead had finally been cleansed from it, making it a place of peace and serenity once again. She flew through Borean Tundra, where the Blue Flight had slowly come together again after their father’s death.

After a long flight over the ocean, she flew over Kalimdor. She rested briefly on the ashen, smoking remains of Teldrassil, desiring nothing more than to attempt to fix it, but she could not waste even a drop of her power now. She flew past Nordrassil, its branches still humming with the power of the Dream and a piece of her sister’s blessings. She flew over the Barrens and past the mana-scorched remains of Theramore, over the lake of Thousand Needles and the sands of Tanaris and the jungles of Un’goro.

All the while, the massive sword of Sargeras loomed, higher than even the greatest mountains shaped by Neltharion and the Titans, its corrupt power dormant but still leaching into the world and poisoning it slowly. Her wings ached as she settled down in Silithus at last, mortals moving out of her way as her draconic form came down near the entrance to the heart of the world.

Even as she folded into her mortal guise she could hear the furious, awed whispers spreading, curiosity and hope in their expressions, and she was reminded again of all the children she’d raised over the millenia who had once worn similar expressions as they’d discovered the wonders of the world. She smiled softly at that - she still did not regret leaving the protection of the world to them, even with how things had changed in the years since then.

“Well, if it isn’t the Dragon Queen herself!” Magni Bronzebeard met her halfway to where he’d been standing. “What brings you so far south?”

“I was hoping for a chance to speak to Azeroth, actually,” she replied, ignoring the continued whispers around them as they slowly started walking back to the edge of the small cliff overlooking the entryway to the Heart.

“That might not be easy,” Magni replied, grimacing as he looked to the wound still hemorrhaging lifeblood. “She’s been sleeping much more lately, trying to save her strength to recover, but…”

Alexstrasza smiled reassuringly. “It’s alright - even a minute or two will be enough for my needs. Would it be possible for you to keep the mortals away while I speak to her? I would rather keep it private, if at all possible.”

“I’d feel better for your safety if you brought at least one with you,” he replied, looking to her. “Not that I don’t doubt your strength, but the old gods have been trying to get into the Heart chamber lately, and only Azeroth’s power has been driving them off successfully.”

Alexstrasza nodded, looking over the mortals who were even now holding their breath in anticipation, hoping to be the one chosen. “Two, then. One from each faction.”

Magni nodded in acceptance, turning to the mortals who were already arguing quietly over her decision. “Make yer choices and send them forward, and no fighting or ye get booted out of the camp, understand?”

It took nearly ten minutes for things to settle, but eventually a human mage from the Mage Academy of Stormwind and an orc hunter of the Frostwolf clan were chosen be her escorts into the Heart chamber. The two did not seem hostile to each other despite walking side by side; even the latter’s wolf companion offered little more than a gruff huff when they were all standing on the teleporter.

Seeing the damage to Azeroth reflected in this chamber only emphasized how serious things had become, and as she strode she silently apologized for what she was about to do.

“Back when the Titans roamed the land, the five Flights were uplifted to serve as guardians of the world. The Black Flight was to guard the earth, the Blue Flight to guard the magics flowing through the world, the Green Flight to guard the Emerald dream, the Bronze Flight to guard the timeways, and the Red Flight to guard all the living things. For millennia, we served faithfully, working tirelessly in promise that one day we would bear witness to the birth of the greatest Titan who would ever exist.

“In that time, however, rot set in. The Old Gods whispered in Neltharion’s ear, until his mind was turned from his duty to his desires. He turned on us, tricking us into sealing parts of the powers we’d been granted into the Dragon Soul as a weapon against the Legion… only to turn it on us instead. Eventually he and his flight were defeated, the survivors fleeing to hide and lick their wounds while the rest of us tried to pick up the pieces. Five became four, and the world was shattered irreparably.

“Ten thousand years later, Malygos arose from his depression, convinced that he had figured out the way to make sure another Sundering could never happen again. He refused to be turned from his course, so I… ordered his death. Four became three, and while Kalecgos served well as his replacement, he was too young to remember all that our flights had been through, too young to truly fit in among the rest of us.

“Barely five years later, Neltharion returned as Deathwing, shattering the world further. I and the other aspects agreed to put yet more of our power into the Dragon Soul, with the promise that it would end Deathwing for good. Nozdormu had to have his corrupted self slain, knowing that one day that would be him… Three became two, even if Nozdormu is still alive by our perception.

“Less than two years ago, my sister went to the Broken Isles in order to root out the source of the Nightmare… and was corrupted by it in turn. When I saw her soul drawn up to Elune’s night, I knew that I was the last of the Aspects left to die for the sake of Azeroth’s future.”

With a twist of her hands vines shot up to curl around the three following her, dragging them to their knees and stunning them. She continued forward to the center of the room, speaking up as she explained to them her last decision.

“Despite the best effort of you all in returning Azeroth’s lifeblood to her, the Alliance and Horde are pulling too much from her, too quickly, and that’s without going into all the other factions taking advantage of the incredible power of the world flooding up from within. While my power has been greatly weakened, Eonar’s blessing still sits within me, and I can think of no greater purpose for it to go to than to give new life to the world I have protected all my life.”

Deep in her soul, she could feel the connection between here and the weakened world soul, crying for herself and her children. Alexstrasza dug deep into herself, into the very heart of her essence, and pulled, even when her entire being screamed in pain at tearing away nearly everything she could possibly give and then some.

“I ask the world not to grieve for me, for in dying I give Azeroth the chance to live on.” The power of her entire being danced in her hands, but she hesitated a moment, thinking back on her many regrets, and gave the mortals one last request. “Tell Caelestrasz that I am sorry for the burdens I have placed on him and the rest of the flight... and tell Wrathion that I am sorry for treating him unkindly.”

She shoved all of her power down into the world, pushing it until she could feel the Titan’s wounds mending, the poisons being broken down, the strength returning to what would one day be a body, grand and glorious. As her body collapsed, unable to even sustain itself anymore, she closed her eyes and smiled, even as the mortals scrambled to her aide and tried to get reinforcements.

Across the world, life bloomed, and for a brief moment, the wars stopped as all gazed in wonder, not knowing for days or even weeks what had caused it.

Alexstrasza saw none of this, however, exhaling her last as she felt the brief touch of thanks from Azeroth’s soul.

She opened her eyes instead to unblemished starlight. Her brothers and sister were smiling back at her, the pantheon of aspects reunited at last in death.

**Author's Note:**

> So the original idea behind this was to write an AU where Alexstrasza was the last survivor of the Aspects during some apocalypse, and she uses the last of her powers to burn her body and those of the other Aspects in holy-life flames so they can't be used for further depravity, only for the five to wake up in another world.
> 
> ...that isn't what I ended up writing at all. I cried a few times writing this, just so you all are aware, because I am weak and give myself way too many fucking feels when killing off characters I really like.


End file.
